Sabre Blog

22 Jul / Talk About Targeting an Audience!

A Japanese vending machine uses facial analysis technology to determine each consumer’s age/gender.

The advertising world is buzzing about the latest technology. Boston’s MBTA system is considering selling audio advertisement spots for its bus fleet. The ads would be triggered to play by GPS technology as a bus passes the advertiser’s location.

Japan is pioneering the use of cameras and sensors that better identify an audience. One vending machine features a touch-screen monitor and a camera that captures each customer’s image. Sensors determine the person’s age, gender and even his or her level of attentiveness, ultimately recommending a drink that fits the customer’s profile. Nesquik uses cameras and touch-screen technology to create large, interactive windows so that audiences can play with the Nesquik bunny.

T-Mobile recently released an Android application that exchanges deals for personal information, which both narrows down the company’s target audience while dodging the privacy concerns that surround mobile advertising. AT&T has joined the bandwagon with “ShopAlerts,” which provide location-specific deals to consumers when they are near participating stores.

Only time will tell how beneficial these forms of technology are. Japan’s sensor-equipped vending machine already has higher sales than regular vending machines. Those who have tested the interactive Nesquik window report that it is “very impressive,” and that it “made (them) slow down.” And with some fine-tuning, the mobile app market is poised to create “perfectly segmented audiences.”

“Sniff,” an interactive window display in Brooklyn, NY may provide further insight into how to better create interactive window displays. Infared-technology builds a relationship between a digital dog and pedestrian.